• Charles Sturt to host free webinar on how university educators can support social work and humanities students reporting mental health challenges during COVID-19 and beyond

Charles Sturt University will host a free webinar next week that will address how university educators can support students who report that mental health challenges are impacting their academic success.

Charles Sturt academics in the School of Humanities and Social Science (SHSS), along with visiting scholar and lecturer from Carleton University in Canada, Ms Brenda Morris, will present the webinar on Tuesday 14 July from 10am to 12pm.

The webinar will explore and share strategies that educators can use to support university students from the social work, social sciences, and humanities disciplines who report that mental health challenges are impacting their ability to meet education requirements.

Ms Morris will draw on research from Carleton University, which explored policy trends in social work education internationally, to consider appropriate responses that university educators can use to navigate complex student scenarios, and support students with mental health challenges, so they can succeed with their studies.

She will also discuss how the current COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted university students’ mental health and how educators can respond to help students who are facing challenges during the pandemic.

The webinar will also include presentations on the topic from Charles Sturt SHSS academics Dr Merrilyn Crichton and Dr Fredrik Velander.

The ‘Responding to student mental health challenges during COVID-19’ webinar is open to educators, health professionals, social workers and members of the public to attend and will be presented via Zoom. Please use the password ‘Canberra’ to access the webinar.

Participants will have the chance to ask questions and share their experiences during the webinar. The webinar will be recorded and made available for future use. Please contact Ms Monica Short mshort@csu.edu.au for a copy.

Ms Morris is an Instructor and Practicum Coordinator at Carleton University’s School of Social Work and has extensive experience in healthcare, mental health, rehabilitation, trauma recovery, and private practice.

She is co-founder of the Alliance of Ontario Social Work Field Education Directors and a member of the International Network of Co-operative Inquirers (INCInq).

Lecturer in social work and human services at Charles Sturt, Ms Monica Short, will introduce the INCInq research community at the webinar.

INCInq comprises of researchers from universities and industry in five countries, including researchers from Charles Sturt, and has published about the intersection of education and the workplace.

The webinar is presented by the Charles Sturt Social Work Research Meeting and the Charles Sturt School of Humanities and Social Science Research Committee.